This invention relates to a process for rendering fabrics, particularly pile fabrics such as carpeting, resistant to soiling.
"Fabrics" as used herein means textile fabrics manufactured from natural or synthetic textile fibers. Synthetic fibers are those fibers manufactured from organic polymeric materials such as polyamides, including nylon, polynitriles such as polyacrylonitriles and polyacrylates such as polymethylmethacrylate and copolymers of polynitriles and polyacrylates. Natural fibers include cotton, wool, silk and regenerated cellulose fibers such as rayon. Fabrics which are treated in accordance with the process of the invention include both woven and pile fabrics but pile fabrics are of particular interest in that they have a particular tendency to pick up soils. Of particular interest are carpets having a pile composed of natural or synthetic fibers since such carpets tend to soil particularly rapidly.
Carpets which are resistant to soiling in the sense that they soil to a lesser degree or less rapidly are therefore particularly advantageous. Pile fabrics, and in particular upholstery fabrics, which are composed of natural or synthetic fibers, are similarly prone to rapid soiling in use and such fabrics which are resistant to soiling are likewise advantageous.
In the prior art, fabrics, particularly carpets and pile upholstery fabrics, were treated to improve soil resistance. Prior art compositions for treating fabrics such as carpets, were not generally acceptable in that soil resistance and particularly dry soil resistance was not sufficiently enhanced and since wear resistance of the compositions was poor. Some of the better compositions for improving soil resistance contained fluorine containing polymers. Such compositions, while being an improvement over compositions which contained no fluorine, generally still do not provide as much soil resistance as was desired, and wear characteristics of the compositions were generally poor.
For simplicity, the fabric with all additives except the present composition will be referred to as "fiber". Polymer treated fabrics are known. For example, fabrics treated with methyl methacrylates are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,433,666.
Fluorinated, nonpolymeric surfactants are also known. Fluorinated sulfonic acids and salts are disclosed in British Pat. No. 1,261,767 and German Pat. No. 1,935,991. U.S. Pat. No. 3,821,290 discloses perfluoroisoalkoxyalkyl sulfonic acids. Perfluoro substituted diphatic acids are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,951,051. French Pat. No. 1,463,275 discloses methacrylate polymer in conjunction with surface active agents to provide dry soil resistance to carpets. British Pat. No. 1,155,552 discloses polystyrene emulsions in conjunction with surface active agents.